Loudspeaker gaskets, sometimes known as padrings, have been used to effect a suitable seal between the loudspeaker housing and the baffle upon which it is mounted. The most common materials from which loudspeaker padrings are constructed are laminated paper products commonly known as chipboard and a compressed fiber product commonly known as bindersboard. Generally, the padring is die cut from a sheet of the desired material and adhesively bonded to the loudspeaker housing and cone assembly. Scrap resulting from the padring manufacture process is discarded.
It is well known by those skilled in the art that chipboard and bindersboard padrings have many undesirable properties but their use has been continued for lack of an economically feasible substitute material. For example, both chipboard and bindersboard have a tendency to absorb water and are not dimensionally stable under varying environmental conditions.
Alternate materials have been proposed but have not been widely accepted because they each possess one or more undesirable properties. For example, die cut sponge rubber or foamed plastics have been proposed but since they are expensive due to the substantial scrap wasted, they have not gained acceptance. Likewise, injection molded plastic foams have been proposed, but due to the expensive mold cost and mold cycle time for injection molding, the end cost is relatively expensive. Accordingly, injection molded foam padrings have not gained wide acceptance either.